spacetoday.net: STS-119 mission delayed again

Posted: Sat, Feb 14, 2009, 9:17 AM ET (1417 GMT)

The launch of the next shuttle was pushed back once again on Friday to give engineers more time to study issues with a flow control valve on the shuttle. Discovery was scheduled to launch on February 22, but after meeting Friday shuttle managers decided to push back the launch to no earlier than February 27. The additional time will allow engineers to extend their studies of a flow control valve in a hydrogen propellant line and what effects any debris from a cracked valve might have on the shuttle's main engines. The delay, NASA said, should not affect the launch dates of the news two shuttle missions, including the STS-125 mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. The launch window for Discovery remains open until March 12; after that NASA would have to wait until the completion of a Soyuz taxi mission to the ISS in late March to launch.